All I Never Wanted
by DaddysGirl118123
Summary: What really happened when Les stayed for Christmas. Can he and Andy deal with the consequences?
1. The News

**All I Never Wanted**

**Part 1**

Andy Campbell shuffled out of her office to the admit desk were Lana and Lu were. It was only eleven in the morning, and she felt like she had been there all day. Peter walked past the desk stuffing his face with food.

"Ugh," she moaned, placing her hand on her stomach as a queasy feeling hit her. Lu looked up at her out of the corner of her eye.

"You alright, Andy?" Lu asked, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I think I just have a bug or something," she replied, writing something in a chart. When she got the same feeling again, she looked back to see Peter standing behind her. "That's it. Riggs, what are you eating?"

"Fried chicken," he said, taking another big bite.

"Oh," she said, turning back to the paperwork. Just then, a light bulb went off in her head, and she turned back to him. "Did you say fried chicken?"  
"Yeah. Why?" Peter asked.

"Oh my god," Andy whispered, throwing down her pen and heading back to her office. Lana, Peter and Lu all looked at each other. Lu put down the chart she was holding and walked to Andy's office. She found her looking at her calendar with a pale look on her face.

"Andy?" Lu asked. Andy looked like she had just seen a ghost.

"Lu, would you close the door, please?" she asked in a quiet tone.

Closing the door, Lu replied, "Okay, now I know something is up. You never call me Lu except in front of your kids."

"Lu, I think I'm pregnant." Andy voice cracked as she made her admission.

"What?" But how….."

"Les," Andy answered, cutting Lu off. She sighed a huge sigh and plopped down in her chair.

"When?" Lu asked, sitting down in the chair facing Andy's desk.

"Remember when he flew here with the girls?" Lu nodded and Andy continued. "Well, it's a long story, but we were wrapping gifts together and he told me he's been in therapy and gone to anger management meetings, and then I asked him to stay fro Christmas, and one thing led to another…….." Andy trailed off, not wanting to go into any more detail.

"Well what makes you think you're pregnant?"

"I haven't been myself. I've been extra tired. I'm three weeks late." Andy paused and then chuckled. "But what really set me off was the fried chicken." Lu gave her a quizzical look. "With Jessie and Lizzy both, even the smell of fried chicken made me queasy." They shared a laugh, which seemed to Calm Andy. But her smile vanished when she remembered the situation she was in.

Seeing this, Lu suggested, "Let me check you out, Andy. Let's be sure before you worry." Andy looked at her partner with the faintest hint of tears in her eyes, and after a few seconds, nodded.

* * *

A few hours later, Andy was still waiting for the results of the test. She had tried to busy herself with her patients, but her nerves coupled with the way she felt physically were not making it easy. As she led one of her patients out of her office, she was met by Lu.

"Did you get the results?" Andy asked Lu.

"Yeah," she answered, walking into the office. Following Lu and closing the door, Andy turned to her.

"Alright, Delgado, let me have it." Andy crossed her arms, trying to act tough.

"You're pregnant, Andy," Lu said, quietly. Andy looked up to the ceiling to hide the tears forming in her eyes.

"Great. Now what? I mean, I love kids, Lu. You know I do. But Les and I are divorced. What kind of life will that be for a baby?" Andy covered her face with her hands as she fought back the tears.

"Andy……" whispered Lu as she tried to hug her. Andy resisted and fought off her comfort at first, ever the brave soldier. But after a few seconds, she gave in to her friend and hugged back, crying on her shoulder.


	2. Telling the Girls

**All I Never Wanted**

**Part 2**

Andy walked into her house and plopped her keys and purse into a nearby chair. Before she had left, Lu had performed a sonogram, and Andy and the baby had been given a clean bill of health. For having a clean bill of health, however, she felt awfully sick. It always amazed her that she could fight battles and be a tough soldier in the army, but in her first few months of pregnancy, she felt weak as a kitten. She walked over to the couch, and keeled into it, pulling a blanket over herself. No sooner did she close her eyes than did Jessie and Lizzy come bursting through the door.

"Mom!" Jessie yelled, assuming her mother was upstairs or in the other room.

"Don't yell, Jess. I'm right here," Andy said tiredly from her spot on the couch to Jessie's right. Shooting her sister a confused look, Jessie put down her bag and walked over to the couch with Lizzie close behind.

"Mom, are you sick?" Jessie asked, squatting down next to the couch.

"Something like that," she said, not wanting to tell her daughters the whole truth right then.

"What can we do?" Lizzy asked. Ever since Andy's divorce from Les, and especially since Milo died, Jessie and Lizzy looked after their mother. Andy hadn't asked them to, they'd just done it.

"Nothing. It's fine. I'll be fine," Andy answered weakly, starting to dose off. Jessie stroked her mother's hair until she was sure she was asleep and then got up from her spot.

"Come on," she whispered to her little sister. They picked up their bags and walked to the kitchen to get a snack.

"She's not okay, you know. She looks terrible," Lizzy admitted, setting her bag on the table.

"I know, but you know mom. Always the brave soldier." Jessie took a dish of macaroni out of the fridge and handed it to Lizzy. When Lizzy gave her a worried look, she said, "Don't worry, we'll talk to Kayla when she gets home. She'll find out what's going on."

* * *

Two hours later, the girls were sitting at the table doing their homework when Kayla came through the back door, still wearing her dark red scrubs. The girls bolted out of their chairs and ran to her.

"Hey!" she greeted them. "What's wrong?" she asked when she noticed the look on their faces.

"Mom's sick." Jessie explained.

"What kind of sick?" Kayla asked.

"She wouldn't say," answered Lizzy. "She looks terrible."

"Okay," Kayla sighed. Tossing her keys on the table, she asked, "Where is she?" Both girls pointed towards the living room. Walking over to the couch, Kayla gently shook Andy.

"What?" she moaned as she tried to wake up.

"The girls say you're sick," she explained, feeling Andy's head for a fever. Andy sighed and slowly brought herself to the normal position for sitting on a couch.

"I'm not sick," she admitted, putting her head in her hands. "I'm fine."

"As you said to me when I said that, you don't look fine." Kayla put her hand on Andy's shoulder.

"Kayla, I'm not sick…………." Andy paused, swallowing hard and lifting her head to look at the resident. "Just pregnant." Kayla just looked at her, not knowing what to say. After a few seconds, Andy could her daughters crying. They obviously had heard and didn't know what to think. "Girls, come here," Andy called. They ran to her and hugged her. "Before you get upset, don't worry, it's daddy's. I'm so sorry. I didn't know how to tell you," Andy said, holding her daughters.

After a few seconds, Jessie asked, "So what happens now?"

"Well, I have to call your dad, and we have to figure it out," Andy answered, wiping a tear from the teenager's eye.

"Is daddy gonna come stay here again?" Lizzy asked.

"I don't know, pumpkin. That's why daddy and I need to talk." Andy sighed and pulled her daughters close, hoping they weren't too mad her. Then she got a worse thought. If they cried, how would Les react?


	3. Les Reacts

All I Never Wanted

Part 3

"Morning," Andy said, walking up to the front desk of the hospital.

"Hey, Andy," Lu greeted her friend, leafing through the papers she found in her mailbox. "How are you?"

"Oh....the usual," she answered, taking her messages from Lana.

"Still feeling sick?" Lana asked with a sympathetic look in her eye.

"Yeah." Andy sighed heavily. "I'll be glad when this stage is over." When Andy became quiet, Lu looked at her.

"You okay?" Lu asked, walking over to her.

Andy thought for a second and then said, "Delgado, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," she said, tossing her papers on the front desk and following Andy to her office. Closing the door, she asked, "What's up?" Andy took off her coat and sat down in her chair.

"I'm almost four months along now, Lu. I have to tell Les, and I have no idea how on Earth I'm going to do it." Inside she was scared to death of how he would react.

"You're telling me you haven't told him yet?" Lu asked, shocked.

"I kept putting it off. He used to get so angry. I guess I'm afraid," Andy admitted, not looking Lu in the eye.

"You have to tell him."

"I know." Andy said. She swallowed hard. "I know."

* * *

Andy walked slowly up the stairs and to her room. Her day at work had warn her out again. Plopping down on her bed, Andy slowly picked up the phone and dialed Les' number. He picked it up on the third ring. 

"Hello?" came his voice.

"Les, um….this is Andy," she stammered.

"Hey, Andy. What's wrong? Did something happen with the girls?" Over the years he had learned to pick up on when she was upset.

"No, no. The girls are fine. Listen, can you get a flight down here tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but Andy, why?" He could sense something was wrong, and it worried him.

"Les, I have to tell you something, but it's not really something I should tell you on the phone." She struggled to keep her voice steady.

"Okay. Okay, Andy, I'll fly out on the next flight." He tried to use a tone that would calm her.

"Thanks, Les," she whispered, then hung up the phone. Laying down on the bed, she held her stomach protectively. "Mommy loves you, baby," she whispered to the life growing inside of her. The question was, would Les love it too?

* * *

The next morning, Andy struggled to get her girls ready for school on time. She had not told them their father was coming, only that she had the day off. They would want to stay home to see him, and she thought this was something they should probably discuss without the kids. 

"Come on troops. Let's get this show on the road!" She yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "Okay mom, we're coming," Lizzy said, as she and Jessie bounded down the stairs. Jessie looked at her mother, who still looked pale and tired.

"Mom, come here." Jessie pulled her mom to the side so that her sister couldn't hear. "Mom, I heard you up all night last night. You sure you're okay by yourself?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I've been through this before." Andy smiled at her daughter's concern, touching her cheek. "Thank you, honey."

"Okay," she said, taking her mother's hand from her cheek and holding it. "I'm calling you at lunch." Jessie pretended to act stern.

"Okay," Andy laughed. Kissing both her girls, she handed them both a pop tart and sent them on their way. Normally, she would want them to have a nice, balanced breakfast, but they were running more than a little late. She watched them as they walked to the corner where the bus would pick them up. They were her pride and joy, and she didn't know what she would do without them.

The yellow cab pulled up to Andy's house and Les emerged from it. Walking up to the front door, he rang the doorbell. His stomach was doing flip-flops. What could possibly be wrong? Andy opened the door.

"Hi, Les," she greeted him, putting on her best smile.

"Hey, Andy," he replied, stepping inside. He took a good look at his ex-wife. She looked, how should he put it, sick. No. That wasn't it. Before he could put his finger on it, she spoke up again.

"Les, I was going to go into this slowly, but I have to just tell you before I decide not to." Andy closed the door and led him into the living room.

Sitting down on the couch, Les cleared his throat and asked, "What is it, Andy?"

Biting her lip, Andy answered, "I'm pregnant, Les." Something clicked in Les' head. Bingo. That was it. That was the last time she looked this way.

"When?" was all he said.

"Christmas night." Andy slowly sat down in a chair as she watched him carefully. He said nothing for at least a minute, staring at the floor.

"I don't believe this!" he yelled, breaking his silence. "That's it, I'm taking the girls back with me." He stormed up the stairs to Jessie's room. Grabbing a bag out of her closet, he packed her some clothes. Andy caught up to him and stormed through the door.

"Who's baby do you think this is?" she screamed. He obviously didn't think it was his.

"It couldn't be mine. We used protection." He zipped up the bag and picked it up, making his way to Lizzy's room with Andy on his heals.

"Yeah well, obviously it broke." She watched him repeat what he had done in Jessie's room and then followed him out into the hall. "What are you doing?" she asked, tears shaking her voice.

"My kids shouldn't have to live with a mother who sleeps around."

"No, don't take the kids. Please, Les!" she cried. In her haste to catch up to him, she tripped, rolling down the stairs. Her stomach hit hard on each step . To her, it seamed like forever before she finally reached the bottom, landing flat on her back. Les had already walked out the door by the time she tripped, and he had not heard or seen her fall.


	4. Pain and Shock

**All I Never Wanted ****Part 4**

Andy lay still for a second, trying to decide if she was okay. She slowly rolled onto her side, grabbing her chest as a pain shot through it. A broken rib was her educated guess. Somehow, she managed to crawl to the table and grab the phone from it. Still on the floor, she dialed the number to the hospital.

"RWHC," Lana answered.

"Lana, where's Lu?" Andy struggled to get the words out as pain set into every inch of her body, as if someone had beaten her up. Lana had noticed that Andy had called her by her first name, but she could tell something was wrong, so she didn't question it.

"She's right here," Lana replied as Lu walked past the deck. She held out the phone. "It's Dr Campbell. She sounds upset or something." Lu gave Lana a confused look and took the phone.

"Andy?" she said.

"Lu, I need…I fell down the stairs," Andy stammered.

Lu's eyes widened with fear. "Are you alright?"

"No," she chocked out. "I think I broke a rib. It's tough to breathe."

"Okay. Andy, don't move. You may have punctured a lung. I'm sending an ambulance to come get you." Hearing this, Lana rushed to Andy's office to use the phone so Lu could stay on with Andy.

"Lu…what about the baby?" Andy started to get choked up, making her chest hurt worse.

"Hang in there, Andy," Lu replied. She was afraid if she answered the question she would be wrong. How could say everything would be okay if she wasn't sure?

* * *

Lu and Lana were waiting in the ER when Andy was rolled in on a gurney. She let out a small cry of pain as they lifted her onto the table. Lu went into full doctor made while Lana tried to give Andy moral support, standing next to her and holding her hand.

"Broken rib! Possible collapsed lung!" Lu yelled out as she looked Andy over.

"Never mind me. Check the baby." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"I'm on it," Peter piped in, pushing the ultrasound machine up next to the table.

"Andy, your pulse-ox is way too low. You need a chest tube," Lu told her, thinking that was a little more important than the baby right now.

"In a minute," Andy ordered her, putting her baby first. Lu looked at Peter, who gave her a look that said it would only take him a second to find a heartbeat if there was one. Peter gently lifted Andy's shirt and placed the probe on her stomach. After a few seconds, they heard the sound of the tiny heartbeat, which caused Andy to tear up in relief.

"Baby looks fine, Dr. C," Peter assured her, wiping the gel off her stomach with a towel. Before Andy could respond, Lu sedated her so she could put in the chest tube.

* * *

Andy's eyes fluttered open to see Lu sitting next to her.

"Hey. You're up," Lu greeted Andy, pushing a piece of hair out her eye.

"What happened?" Andy asked, trying hard to jog her memory.

"You fell down your stairs," Lu slowly explained. "You had a broken rib and collapsed lung, so we had to put in a chest tube and inflate it." The memory of what happened flooded back to Andy, and she turned away. Taking her hand, Lu asked "You want to tell me what happened?"

Andy hesitated and then said, "I told Les."

"Andy, he didn't…….." Lu swallowed hard, thinking the worst. Andy shook her head.

"No…no, he got mad and said his daughters didn't need to be with some who sleeps around and…"

Lu cut her off. "He thinks you sleep around? Didn't you tell him the baby's his?"

"He didn't believe me, and I told him the condom must have broken." Andy shook her head in disbelief as Lu urged her to continue.

"So what happened?"

Andy sighed. "He said he was taking the girls, I tried to run after him, and I tripped. He was already gone by the time I fell." Andy wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Andy, I'm so sorry," Lu told her, on the verge of tears herself. Lu leaned in to hug Andy. Before she could let her go, Jessie and Lizzy came running in with a policeman behind them.

"Oh my gosh!" Andy exclaimed, reaching for them.

"Are you alright?" Jessie asked, squeezing her mother tightly without thinking.

Lu saw her flinch. "Careful, careful" She instructed Jessie. "Your mom tripped and fell down the stairs. She's got a broken rib, and we had to put a tube in her chest. She's gonna be a little sore."

"Sorry," Jessie said, slowly letting go of Andy.

"It's okay," Andy assured her oldest daughter as her other daughter moved in for a hug.

"Is the baby okay, LU?" Jessie asked, still holding on to her mother's hand.

"Yes, your little sister or brother is fine," Lu answered with a smile.

"So, what's going on?" Andy asked, suddenly realizing the police officer was still in the room.

"Daddy's in jail," Lizzy answered bluntly. Lu and Andy looked at each other in shock.


	5. Realization

**Author's Note: I have had some complaints about the fact that Peter was eating fried chicken in the first chapter. I have only been a regular watcher for a little more than 7 weeks, so I was not aware that he doesn't eat meat. It was one line, so let's just get over it please. And for future information this is my story, and if the characters aren't exactly like the show, so be it. I don't intentionally do it. If you can't overlook a simple mistake, don't read it. And my apologies to the people who said it nicely. Now, on to the story.**

All I Never Wanted Part 5

"What? Why?" Andy asked, thinking that he may have tried to hurt the girls. She used to think he would never do that, but she wasn't sure now. "Did he hurt you?"

"No!" Jessie assured her. "But he tried to pick me up from school, and I knew something had to be wrong so I told him I didn't want to go. He tried forcing me to, and I started crying, so the school called the police." Andy gave her daughter a sympathetic look and brushed her cheek with the back of her hand.

"Your daughter was very distraught, Dr. Campbell. And with your husband's domestic violence history, we thought it best to retain him till we found out for sure what was going on.. I then picked up your other daughter from her school." The police officer added, standing at the end of the bed with his hands in his pockets.

"How did you find out I was here?" Andy asked, looking at both of her kids.

"I insisted on going home and checking on you," Jessie explained.

"Lana left a message on the machine telling us you were here," Lizzy added.

There was a second of silence, then the officer cleared his throat, saying, "Dr. Campbell, did you give your ex- husband permission to pick up your children?"

"No, I did not. He's not even on the list at their schools." Andy paused and then continued. "He flew here to resolve some family issues, and we got into a heated argument. That was when he threatened to take my children. I tried to run after him, and that's when I fell down the stairs."

After jotting down a few things, the officer replied, "My sympathies, Dr. Campbell. Unfortunately, since he didn't actually harm you or the children, there is not enough evidence to hold him. We can only insist that he return to California."

"Thank you," Andy said, nodding to the officer just before he walked out the door. She let out a sigh of exhaustion, frustration, and relief.

* * *

Three days later, Andy's car pulled into the driveway. For the first time, Andy had let Jessie drive her. Kayla had offered, but she didn't want her to take the day off, and she knew Jessie and Lizzy would take the day off of school anyway. She would have been coming home much sooner, but Lu had insisted on keeping her for a few days of observation.

"Okay Mom, Lizzy can take your bag into the house and I'll help you out of the car," Jessie announced in a take charge tone as she put the car into park.

"Jess, I can do it. It's fine," Andy protested as she unbuckled her seat belt.

"Mom, you helped me into the house when I came home from having my surgery. You took care of me, and now it's my turn. Let me help you." Jessie looked her mother in the eye, and Andy realized she was being sincere.

"Okay." Andy nodded, squeezing her daughter's hand. Jessie got out of the car and walked around to the other side, opening the door. Andy proceeded to stand up, and Jessie gently put her hands on her mother's waste as she tried to straighten herself. Andy flinched as her rib gave her a jolt.

Noticing this, Jessie asked, "You okay?"

Taking a slow, deep breath, she answered, "Yeah."

Once inside the house, Jessie led her mother to the couch. Andy slowly lay down, trying hard to keep her rib from hurting. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Jessie saw that her mother was trying to act tough, as always. Lizzy came in the room with a blanket and covered Andy up.

"I'll be right back," Jessie said, making her way to the kitchen where Lizzy put Andy's bag. Finding the prescription pain killers they had picked up on the way home. Jessie opened them and got a glass of water, taking them back to her mother.

When Andy saw the pills, she protested, "Jess, I'm fine, really. I can handle it."

"Mom, come on. I know it hurts and I don't have a bullet for you to bite on." Andy grew quiet and smiled slightly. "What?"

"I said something close to that to your grandfather when he fell down the stairs."

"Well then……" Jessie trailed off, holding the pills and water out to her mother. Andy looked at her for a second, and then sighed heavily, taking the pills. Once she had swallowed them, she handed the glass of water back to Jessie.

"Here," said Lizzy, handing her mother the remote. "I'll be reading in my room."

"And I'll be on the phone," Jessie added, grinning at her mother. Both the girls kissed her on the head, and then turned to leave the room. Andy watched them make their way up the stairs and then snuggled down under the blanket. Flipping the channels, she stopped when she ran into a song she had heard Jessie playing a week or so before. Now, it had taken on a different meaning for her.

_It's hard to listen to a hard, hard heart_

_Beating close to mine_

_Pounding up against the stone and steel_

_Walls that I won't climb_

_Sometimes a hurt is so deep, deep, deep_

_You think that you're gonna drown_

_Sometimes all I can do is weep, weep, weep_

_With all this rain falling down_

_Strange how hard it rains now_

_Rows and rows of big dark clouds_

_When I'm holding on underneath this shroud_

_Rain _

_It's hard to know when to give up the fight_

_Some things you want will just never be right_

_It's never rained like it has to night before_

_Now I don't wanna beg you baby_

_For something maybe you could never give_

_I'm not looking for the rest of your life_

_I just want another chance to live_

_Strange how hard it rains now_

_Rows and rows of big dark clouds_

_When I'm holding on underneath this shroud_

_Rain _

_Strange how hard it rains now_

_Rows and rows of big dark clouds_

_When I'm holding on underneath this shroud_

_Rain _

_Strange how hard it rains now_

_Rows and rows of big dark clouds_

_When I'm still alive underneath this shroud_

_Rain_

_Rain_

_Oh, Rain_

As the song ended, she realized something. She still loved Les, and she didn't want to go through this without him.. She missed him. She wanted him by her side.

**Author's Note: Okay, this one was short. This one was just a filler to get Andy home and Les out of jail. The next one will be better. Song credits go to patty Griffin for "Rain."**


	6. Mixed Feelings

**Sorry this is so short. I really didn't know what to write. The second half of this part will come in a few days. Hope you like it anyway.**

**All I Never Wanted Part 6a**

Andy walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where her children were eating breakfast. Two weeks after her fall, she and her baby were still in great health. Her rib was still sore sometimes, but it was healing nicely.

"Morning, troops," she greeted happily. Putting her briefcase on the chair, she walked over to the coffee pot without thinking. She barely got the coffee poured into her cup when Jessie came up behind her and took it away.

"Nope," she said, dumping the coffee into the sink. "No caffeine." She walked over to the fridge and took out the milk, jiggling it. "Milk." Jessie poured the milk into a glass and handed it to her mother. Then she put the rest of the milk back in the fridge.

Andy laughed and shook her head. "I thought I was the doctor around here."

Sitting back down in her chair at the table, Jessie answered, "Then you know it's bad for the baby, and you shouldn't have even poured that."

Andy rolled her eyes. "You know, you're learning a lot in that child development class at school."

"Isn't that what is supposed to happen at school," Jessie asked, trying not to reveal that she was being sarcastic. Andy just smiled at her.

After a few seconds, Andy turned to Corrina, who was making more pancakes. "Don't forget that Jessie has a dentist appointment after school. After that, Lizzy has..." Andy stopped as she felt a flutter in her stomach. The girls looked up at her, and Corrina gave her a quizzical look. Looking down, she placed her hand where she felt it.

"Mom, what?" Lizzy asked. Without saying anything, Andy walked over to her daughter and took her hand.

"Can you feel that?" she asked, holding Lizzy's hand to her abdomen.

"Is that the baby?" Andy just smiled and nodded as Lizzy's eyes lit up in amazement. Jessie squealed in excitement through a mouthful of pancakes. Reaching across the table, she put her hand where Lizzy's had been.

"Oh, my god," she giggled after she swallowed her food.

"Remember when Lizzy kicked, Jess?" Andy asked, thinking back twelve years.

Jessie went back to eating her breakfast and answered, "I do actually. I thought it was just as amazing then as I do now, even though I couldn't truly appreciate it then."

"Who are you, and what have you done to my daughter?" Andy joked, amazed at how grown up and sweet Jessie was acting.

Jessie chuckled and replied, "It's just now I know how daddy felt when he felt us kick." Lizzy saw the look on her mother's face turn from joy to sadness.

"Jessie!" she snapped at her sister through clenched teeth.

"What?" Jessie asked, not sure what she had done. After a few seconds, it came to her. Placing a hand on her mother's arm, she quietly said, "Mom, I….I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…." Andy cut her off by a shake of her head.

"It's okay," she assured her daughter, kissing her on the head. Fighting back the tears, Andy turned and walked upstairs to her room. Jessie looked to Lizzy and then to Corrina. Sighing, she wiped her mouth with the napkin, getting up from the table and walking up the stairs as well.

When she reached her mother's room, she found her sitting on the edge of the bed with the phone in her hand. She stood there and watched her for a second, and then she slowly walked over to the bed, taking the phone from Andy.

"Mom," Jessie whispered, hanging up the phone. She sat down on the bed and put her arm around the crying Andy. When Andy flinched, resisting her touch, she said, "Mom, it's okay." Andy laid her head on her daughter's shoulder and let her tears quietly fall. Jessie stroked her hair, trying to calm her. After a few seconds more, she quietly asked," Were you gonna call Dad?"

Andy lifted her head and wiped her tears. "No." She paused, starting to cry again. "But I wanted to!" Her last statement came out in a scream. Jessie pulled her mother close again, blushing the back of her had with the palm of her hand, just like Andy had done for her on many occasions.

Sighing, Jessie said, "Mom, you don't want Dad. You want Milo." Deep down, Andy knew her daughter was right. She did want Milo. She wanted him to tell her it was going to be okay, just like he used to do.

"I miss him so much. I may have been tough as a soldier before, but I can't do it anymore!" Andy admitted. "Why does it still hurt so much! Why do I always have to do things alone!" Jessie gently rocked her mother, and tears welled in her own eyes as she listened to the strongest woman she knew fall apart.

"You're not alone, Mom. I promise. I'm right here….always."


End file.
